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Musings of the Madman: Take the Crown’s Legends and Leaders

Welcome back everyone! Conspiracy: Take the Crown drafts have been firing non-stop at your local Wizard’s Tower, and the set is insanely fun to play with. Your humble scribe’s last draft had Benjamin Milette collect five Garbage Fires and – shockingly – win the event. That said, let’s look at the set’s legendary creatures!

Tiny Leaders finally has its Sultai addition, and Duel Commander is all agog about this addition, some on MTGSalvation already wondering if it’s strong enough to be banned. A 3/3 body for a green, blue, and black mana is already crazy, having any permanent you lose to targeted removal replace itself is fantastic, and locking your opponent to one card per turn is incredible. Expect to see all sorts of midrange goodness emerge from Leovold, who puts the more casual Rayne, Academy Chancellor to shame.

Will you take her crown? Another extremely efficient body at a 3/3 deathtouch, haste for four mana, she grants you a 1/1 black Assassin token with deathtouch and haste on your upkeep if your opponent is the Monarch. Need we add that you become the monarch when she enters the battlefield? So amazing.

At 2/3 for one and two green mana she isn’t particularly pushed, but her ability to grant you gas if your creatures entering the battlefield are larger than all others is more than fine. On top, you can pay green and tap her to get mana equal to the largest creature’s power you control, in any combination of colours. She’ll get silly in a hurry.

A nice Boros legend, for five mana you get a 4/4 Melee that grants Melee to your creatures, with multiple instances of Melee stacking as well. Things should get really messy once she hits the battlefield.

More than fine at a 2/2 for two red, his new version lets you cast the top card of an opponents library when a creature of yours connects, or goad your opponent’s creatures, which will be sure to clear up the inevitable logjams that pop up in Commander games.

More, more, we want more!

And more you shall receive.

Mental note kids, don’t draft this pick two in the first round of the draft. That said, it has no drawback in constructed play, and a 5/4 flyer for four is fairly decent. Not as decent as Desecration Demon or Abyssal Persecutor, perhaps, but it can still find a slot in more relaxed builds.

A Chainer’s Edict and an extra card draw at end of turn on a mediocre 4/2 body for five mana. I’ll be trying it out, but am hoping for better ways to seize the monarchy.

I must have them all! Flavour explosion here as Godzilla emerges from beneath the earth, annihilates everyone, breaks all their possessions (artifacts) and rampages forward as an 8/8 lizard token. Such a win on every level.

A 5/5 Trample for six is mediocre these days, but the fringe benefits here are great! First you become monarch and then your lands tap for an additional mana of any colour. Yes, things will get quite silly if it sticks around.

She’s so stealthy I didn’t see any at all in our draft pods. Kaya hits that sweet spot between annoying blink shenanigans, slowly draining your opponents of resources and being fairly costed for what she does. Am definitely expecting her at some Commander tables in the near future.

Taps for a colourless so it’s average. Sacrifices itself to grant you the monarchy, which is quite fantastic even with the four generic attached to the activation. There are probably better uses for Crucible of Worlds and Life from the Loam, but this probably ends up seeing a little more play than Reliquary Tower.

That’s it for now! I hope you’re all having fun with Conspiracy: Take the Crown and look forward to Kaladesh previews starting in the near future as well! Until then, remember that while there may be many monarchs during a game, there’s only ever been one King, so don’t be cruel.